Red is Your Color
by dreamydark
Summary: Natsu probably shouldn't be thinking of his teammate this way, but what was he supposed to do? Red is his favorite color, like fire and passion, and Lucy looks really nice in that red dress...like, really, really nice...really, really, really-"And exactly what are you doing?" NaLu


**ok this was supposed to be part of a series with all seven dragonslayer/various but...I got lazy and had zero inspiration for Wendy (uh...there's RoWen which is...alright...or I could go with a friendship thing with Doranbolt but...idk, the new chapters QAQ (LAHAR DAMMIT I LIKED YOU AND THEN YOU DIE? WAIT BUT PEOPLE DON'T DIE IN FT-oh. Ultear. right...this new arc scares me a bit...) and no matter what I did, Rogue was just forever alone with Frosch XD)  
so I just chose Lucy for Natsu because who else? (lol I actually sort of ship Lisanna/Natsu/Lucy but...dunno how to write that yet)  
**

**warnings? uh...maybe some cursing I guess? not much...oh, and this was sort of written a while ago (like...before chapter 3 of my other fic Shining Brightly...i think...)**

**I seem to be obsessed with colors...red and blue especially...so here you go~ **

* * *

It's a party, right?

So then why is it so _boring_.

_Oh, I know. It's because _nothing_ is happening_, Natsu thinks.

Actually, that's a lie. It's just that nothing is happening that involves him. Which means nothing is happening that actually _matters_.

After a while of sitting idle and mechanically stirring his drink with a finger, Natsu considers going to find Gray, of all people. It's not that he wants to, but no one else seems to be available. Happy is trying to flirt with Carla—and failing—Lucy's running late—she was supposed to come with Levy but something had come up so they're _both_ late and Gajeel is sulking in a corner—Erza's somewhere else—probably making out with Jellal in one of the guild's many empty closets, who knows—and even Lisanna is caught in a conversation with Cana about...how a mixture of apple juice and vodka tastes after being heated by the sun for five days then frozen.

Basically, everyone is completely out-of-their-mind drunk. That includes him, because when he tries to get up to find Gray and punch him to start a fight—which he'll win, of course—his entire world spins so he falls back onto the bench he was sitting on.

Natsu waits for a while for the pitching and rolling to stop—a long while, because the way everything is moving reminds him of a boat which makes him even more sick—then turns his head, looking for anyone, anything interesting.

His eye catches Gray, _giggling_—how he wishes he had a recording lacrima handy.

Wait.

He's with a girl.

That's just not fair.

It takes Natsu about five minutes to realize the girl is Juvia, who's also giggling like a maniac and nearly falling off her seat. They're talking about something which must be _fucking hilarious_, based on their reactions. Natsu catches bits of their discussion, which he deems to be a language unfamiliar to Earthland, and ignores the duo until he hears a crash from their general direction.

The stools they were sitting on are both toppled over, leaving their occupants in a jumbled heap and now they're—

He did not need to see that.

Natsu turns away quickly, scarf moving with him, trying to forget that he saw anything. He had forgotten how Gray got when he had a bit too much to drink, and Juvia's no better, so it always ended up with—

He _really_ needs a distraction.

A second after that thought crossed his mind—okay, maybe it was more like half a minute, but _you get the point_—the doors open and Levy steps in with Lucy following close behind.

Levy's wearing her signature orange headband and a white dress…something else…but none of it matters because _Lucy_.

Natsu can see Lucy clearly when Levy moves out of the way—heading towards Gajeel, of course—and his heart jumps.

Lucy's wearing a red dress, cut to reveal one of her legs. There's a swirly silver pattern on the other side, curving like a snake and leaving Natsu wondering where it ends, and small silver flowers decorating a few other places.

She looks really fucking pretty, and Natsu has no idea why she doesn't wear red as often, when it makes her look as if fire is encircling her body, like she's controlling the flames, controlling _him_.

"Hey, Luce. Finally decided to show up?" Natsu says nothing about how amazing the dress looks on her, because he's still working on exactly what he's going to say.

She sits down next to him, legs almost brushing but not quite. "I'm sorry, one of my shoes broke—it wasn't cheap either—so we had to find a replacement but then my hair..." She trails off when she feels a curious finger trace her side, down the fullness of her breast, the curve of her waist, the bend of her hips, finally stopping right above her bare knee.

"Natsu? What are...you doing?" He stares at her for a while longer and decides he really likes her legs before the question registers.

"Uh, nothing?" he tries weakly.

"Right..." She holds his wrist tightly, pulling it away from her thigh forcing Natsu to look up. He notices her hair then, tied into a fancy bun with the few golden strands left to frame her face curling at the edges. "_Answer_. Now."

Lucy's eyes are so, so _brown_, and Natsu finds himself lost in them before he realizes he actually needs a satisfactory answer.

"I really like your dress." The sentence escapes his mouth before he's even aware of the fact that his lips are moving. He wants to take it back immediately after because saying something like that is so..._awkward_, and he really wishes he had said it _better_, somehow.

A faint pink colors Lucy's cheeks and she smiles. "Thank you, Natsu." She nearly forgets her original intention until she feels her hand still grasping his wrist. "But—"

_Here goes nothing._ "And...your everything else, too."

"Huh? What do you..." Lucy tilts her head, trying to figure out exactly what Natsu means, while said person holds his breath, anxiously waiting for a response.

"Oh. That's..." Lucy seems to have figured it out, grip loosening and mouth open, sounding like she's just been kicked. "Uh. Nice?"

"Yeah." He nods, but Lucy seems off in another world, eyes fixed on a small crack in the wall. "Hey, Luce?"

"Hm?"

"Can I kiss you?" he asks, half out of impulse and also because Lucy's lips look really soft and red with a bit of lipstick brightening the color.

"Oh, sure." She doesn't sound like she heard the question, but Natsu takes that as a yes and cups her chin—she still doesn't react—and turns her face so they're looking at each other, then slowly leans in so their lips brush clumsily. It's all very awkward, because Natsu's never really kissed anyone and Lucy's taken completely off guard.

When he pulls back, their noses are touching and Natsu can feel Lucy's warm breath on his lips. His face must be the same color as his hair now. Lucy blinks once, twice. "You just..."

"Kissed you. Yeah." For once, Natsu is grateful that the rest of the guild is busy. "Tried to, at least."

Lucy brings her fingers up to her lips, touching the spot of smeared lipstick that Natsu had created. She seems to acknowledge the kiss, but still isn't saying a word. "You gonna say something? I mean, I get it if you reject me, since we're on the same team and all, but don't leave me hanging!"

"I'm not going to—it's just—I wasn't prepared for this, alright? I'm no good with relationships and romance and..." She has a million different half-assed excuses, but Natsu doesn't want to hear them.

"I don't care about any of that!" He takes her hand into his, brushing a thumb over the pink guild mark. "We're the unbreakable team, Luce, we'll make it through somehow. All I need to know is...how do you feel about me?" There. He said it.

"How I..." Lucy's eyebrows scrunch up as she considers her next words. "I...don't love you." Natsu feels a little like someone's driven an icicle through his heart, freezing and so very cold.

He struggles to erase his frown, hiding behind a shaky smile. Straight-out rejection wasn't something he'd been expecting. "Ah, so that's—"

"Don't you know it's rude to interrupt? Really, the least you could do is wait until I finished!"

"That's not all of it?" Natsu looks genuinely confused.

"No, but I would finish if you'd actually let me spe—"

"'m listening" He brings a hand to his mouth and pretends to lock it, then throw away the key.

"So...I don't love you, I think...not yet, at least," she starts, blushing. "But...I do like you. A lot. Maybe even more...than just a friend." By the end of it, her face is nearly the same color as her dress, and her eyes are everywhere except the person she's talking to.

"Geez, Luce! You coulda said that in the first place, instead of making everything so _confusing_." _Why are girls so...weird?_

"I _was_ going to, but _you_ cut me off—"

"Does this mean I get to kiss you?" he asks, like a child before his birthday, hopeful.

"Uh..." Lucy's taken aback, not sure what to say. "M-maybe?"

"Okay!" He stands up and bends down to kiss her—

On the forehead. "W-what was that?"

"A kiss? It was supposed to be one...am I really that bad?"

"No, it's not that! I just wasn't expecting it," she admits.

"But you said I could, right?"

"I said 'maybe'! Not yes!"

"Oh...sorry?"

"That's the best you can say?" Lucy's blush is faint and she's regained her usual fire.

"It's your fault for not being clear!"

"You're the one who started this whole mess in the first place!" She loses her spirit suddenly, giving a weary sigh. "Is this how we're going to be?"

"Huh?"

"All this fighting...even as a...couple, it won't stop, will it?"

"No, why?" Natsu isn't particularly concerned.

"How will this last if we keep fighting like this?"

"Eh, it'll spice things up, I guess. Or else it'd be really boring...'sides, we've always fought a bit, but we're still on the same team, aren't we? Luce, you worry way too much!" He wears a bright smile, unconcerned with anything but the present.

Lucy can't help but mirror his cheerfulness. Natsu's always so positive, it's impossible to be down near him. "You...you're just so..." She can't find the words to complete her thought, and makes a desperate hand movement, trying to convey the message. "So..._idiotic_."

"That's a compliment, right?" He looks so..._happy_, an embodiment of joy, so Lucy can't help but plant a short kiss on his lips.

Natsu's cheeks flush, but his smile doesn't waver, and Lucy's filled with hope for the future.

* * *

**and have another of my epicfail endings! yay!  
ugh why are endings so...endingy...uh...  
i hope this was alright for NaLu...Natsu's just so...oblivious idek how to write him...**

**coughreviewcough**

**also! ok, random question: how old do you think I am? I just want to know what you guys think of me~**


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